Reversible car-seat.



E. KLBURN.

REVERSIBLE cAn SEAT. APPLICATION FILED MAYH|19|4 1,228,785. PatentedJUm5, 1917.

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J. E. KILBURN. REVERSIBLE CARSEAT. APPLICATION FILED MAYH. 1914.

Patented June 5, 1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 r nvm/ron ATTORNEY JOHN EDWIN KILBURN, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE T0 HALE AND KILBURN COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 5, 1917.

Application le'd May 1l, 1914. v Serial No. 837,619.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN EDWIN KIL- BURN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have in` vented certain new and usefulImprovements in Reversible Car-Seats, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to reversible seats for railway carriages and thelike, and the object of the invention is to effect certain improvementsin the construction of seats of this type, whereby they are made easilyreversible, the proper inclination of both the back and the seat areobtained, the seat is moved simultaneously with the reversal of the backand in the same direction, and a simple and compact construction isprovided.

In accordance with the invention, as stated, a very simple constructionof reversible car-seat is provided wherein the seat is moved bodily inthe same direction as the back when the latter is reversed, being soarranged that the seat will, in either position, be inclined at such anangle as will make it most comfortable for occupants of the seat.Movement of the seat in the same direction as the back when reversal isleffected is sometimes desirable for the reason that greater knee-roomis provided when two seats are facing each other, the construction alsopermitting the installation of a greater number of seats in a car ofgiven length. Thus when the backs of a pair of adjacent car-seats aremoved to the distant edges of their cushions so that the occupants sitfacing each other, the seats or cushions are moved backwardly in eachinstance, and when one of the backs of this pair of seats is reversed sothat the occupants of the seats are facing in the same direction, theseats will be closer together, because of the movement of the seat theback of which was reversed. By this means, space within the car iseconomized, less space being required between the seats when they arefacing in the same direction and accordingly more seats can be used in acar under these conditions.

In order that my invention may be more .clearly understood, attention ishereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming part of thisspecification and illustrating the preferred form of my invention. Inthe drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the seat, the backbeing in one of its extreme positions, Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe seat with the back shown in intermediate position during itsmovement of reversal, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a partof the mechanism shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the reference character 1 represents theusual aisle pedestal and 2 the foot rest. The cross-members 3 and 3,preferably structural shapes, serve to connect the aisle pedestal andthe wall support for the seat. The seat 4e of anyT desired constructionis secured to metallic rockers 5 and 6 which are slidably mounted onmembers 7 and 8 secured to the cross-member 3 and similar memberssecured to the cross-member 3 to permit the desired movement of the seatwhen the back is reversed. The seat may, if desired, be removablyconnected to the rockers by a pin and socket connection as indicated.The rockers are provided on their under sides with inclined surfaces 9and 10, and plane surfaces 11 between the inclined surfaces. The partsare so positioned that when the seat is in the position shown in Fig. 1,the forward edge of the rockers in advance of inclined surfaces 9 issupported by the guiding tracks 7 and 8, the guides secured to the rearcross-bar 3 contacting the under sides of the rockers in advance of theinclined portions 10 of the rockers so that the forward edge of the seatis raised in the well known manner. When the seat and back are reversed,surfaces 9 of the rockers move olf of their supports and surfaces 1()move over their supports to similarly raise the other edge of the seatwhich now becomes the forward edge. The back 12 is provided on its sideedges with metallic members 13 to which arms 14 are pivoted upon pins 14at points somewhat above the middle of the back. Arms 14 each carry attheir lower ends a pair of rollers 15 and 16 running on a curved track17 at each side of the seat, the track on each side being supported in aframe 18. The tracks are preferably made yof stamped metal formed withupper and lower flanges between which the rollers 15 and 16 are guidedas illustrated. Links 19 are provided, one on each side of the seat, tocontrol the angle of the back and also to move the seat-cushion when theback is reversed. Links 19 are pivoted at their lower ends on a rod 20extending transversely beneath the seat and carried by the stationaryframe.c Links 19 at their upper ends carry pins 21 which are slidablymounted in slots 22 at the lower ends of members 13 on the back. Links19 also carry pins 23 which slidably engage Within slots 24 at the lowerends of arms 14, slots 24 being provided in portions of arms 14-intermediate between the forward rollers 15 and the rear rollers 16. Bythis arrangement when the back is reversed, the rollers 15 and 16 movein tracks 17, pins 21 and 23 move in their respective slots, the backand arms 14 being appropriately guided in their movement and thereversing movement of the back is smoothly accomplished. Arms 14; arebent or offset as indicated at 25 in Fig. 9J, to make room for the upperends of links 19 which are positioned between arms 1li on the one sideand members 13 secured to the back on the other side.

Links 19 are each provided a short distance above their pivots on rod 2Owith laterally extending pins 2G which engage within vertically arrangedslots 27 provided on the under sides of the rockers. Accordingly, whenthe back is reversed, the seat is moved in the same direction by theengagement of pins 26 in slots 27 of the rockers, the extent of movementof the seat being determined by the length of the lever arms of pins 26.In practice, anv advantageous arrangement has been found to be to spacethe seats so that the knee-room between the cushions ofadjacent seats isapproximately fourteen inches when the seats all face the saine way, andto provide for a receding movement of one cushion of-two inches when theseat is reversed so that when a pair of seats are arranged face to face,there will be sixteen inches knee-room between the cushions.

Having now particularly described my invention, what I claim and desireto protect by Letters Patent is as follows 1. In a reversible car-seat,the combination of a support, curved tracks supported thereby, rockersslidably mounted on said support and a seat carried thereby, a backmovable from one edge of the seat to the other to reverse the facingdirection of the seat, arms pivoted to the back intermediate its top andbottom and carrying rollers run-v ning on said track, links having fixedpivots at their lower ends below the seat and .having pin and slotconnections with said back and also with said arms, said links alsohaving pins above the pivotal points thereof engaging slots in saidrockers to move the seat in the same direction as that of the back inreversal, substantially as set forth.

2. In a reversible car-seat, the combination of a support, curved trackssupported thereby, rockers slidably mounted on said support and a seatcarried thereby, a back movable from one edge or the seat to the other,arms pivoted to the back intermediate its top and bottom and carrying attheir lower ends rollers running on said tracks, said arms havingdownwardly extending slots at their lower ends between said rollers, andsaid back having downwardly extending slots at the lower portions of itsends, and links having fixed pivots at their lower ends below said seatand having pins slidably engaged within the slots in said arms and saidback, said linksv also having pin and slot connections with saidrockers, substantiallyas set forth. c

This specification signed and witnessed this 8th day of May, 1914. JOHNEDWIN KILBURN.

Witnesses:

W. M. Sworn, l/VM. J. EARNsHAw.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent N o. 1,228,785, grantedJune 5, 1917,

upon the application of John Edwin Kilburn, of Philadelphia,Pennsylvania, for

an improvement in Reversible Car-Seats, an error appears in the printedspeelfioation requiring correction as follows: Page 2, line 54, elairn1, for the Word track read tracks; and that the said Letters Patentshould be read with this correction therein that the same may conform tothe record of the oase in the Patent Oili'oe. l

Signed and sealed this 26th day of June, A. D., 1917.

R. F. VHITEHEAD,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

[SEAL]

